A very Olympic 3rd birthday

Ava James turned three on Friday, January 22.
She started it off with her favorite breakfast, hot dogs (also known as pigs-in-a-blanket). Josh's schedule is wonderful this semester and he was actually able to enjoy the birthday breakfast with us.

Opening her presents from Mommy and Daddy

With a little help

from both of us.

The perfect birthday outfit

My family came in on Friday evening to kick off the birthday weekend. Ava picked Hideaway Pizza for dinner.

Choosing her frozen yogurt dessert with Uncle Brandon

Loving our Orange Tree treats

Chocolate face

Uncle Brandon and Ava worked on a puzzle while we prepared for the party.

Not sure how we fit all of the cooks in our tiny kitchen, but it worked out fine.

Ava has been taking gymnastics at Bart Conner Gymnastics Academy since August. Most of our friends take gymnastics there too, so it was an ideal location for the party. I kept asking Ava what theme she'd like for her party, Pooh? Wonderpets? Fancy Nancy? All she would ever reply was "Orange". We requested for our guests to wear orange to the party in her honor in lieu of gifts.

A little shy at first

Ready to party

Sliding with Nadia

Introductions

Gabby loving on her mommy

Aunt Sarah and Uncle Brandon took their orange to a whole new level, decorating their shirts just for Ava.

Sliding with Noah

Hugs for Mimi

Chatting with Gabby

Silly with Mommy

Loving her Baba

Snuggles with Aunt Jaryn

All of the party guests used the parachute to wrap Ava like a present.

Then we pulled and she twirled around and around.

The kiddos played inside the enormous air bubble.

Everybody in

Fun with Geoff and Pops

Going over the rules.
The most important rule: Have Fun!

Trampoline fun

Ava landed funny on the trampoline. Luckily, our resident chiropractor was there for a quick adjustment.

Gabby on the beam

Playing in the foam pit

Julia Kate and Ava jumping in the pit

Relaxing

Ava wanted me to do a cartwheel. Instead I walked on the tape line. I have never in my life done a cartwheel. Didn't want to break a bone before cake.

The 3 Locketts at the 3rd birthday party

Swinging

The kiddos at the party
(the ones we could round up anyway)

The whole crew

For months we have driven by the cutest cake spot in downtown Norman. Sugar did such a great job making her cake orange and girly, my two requests.

Happy with her cake

Is it time to eat it?

Cake time

Blowing out her candles

Mimi helps her take a few bites.

No one followed our 'no present' request. Have they seen the crackerjack box we live in? We are so thankful for the thoughtful gifts. Too bad Daddy may have to move out so we can fit everything. Here are the kids showing '3'....well, sort of.

Hugs from Gus

We were all thrilled to have an unexpected visit from BART CONNER during presents! Yes, those of you who are slightly older than this blogger, that Bart Conner. The gold medal-winner in the 1984 Olympics.

Ava wasn't so sure about him, gold medal or not.

After sweetly wishing her a happy birthday, Bart left our crazy orange group.

Jack and Julia Kate help Ava sort through their gift.

Daddy helps read some cards from the great-grandparents.

Smiles

The two best aunts ever! We can only hope Ava grows up to look like a mix of these two beautiful ladies.

With sweet Susie and Geoff

The birthday fairy

Even the Oklahoma sunset dressed in orange for Ava James

Ready for some Ted's Mexican food

The princess and Coach

We are so thankful to our friends and family for helping us celebrate Ava's 3rd birthday! After a year of so many changes, the love we've felt from friends, old and new, and our amazing family has been a welcome constant. We love you all dearly.

The Magical Land of Doors

Once upon a time there was a sugar-plum-pink-bow-wearnin' princess and a handsome-J Crew sweater-wearin' king, (for the sake of time we'll call 'em Princess Sugar and King Crew, respectively).

Now these two noble folks had been given the adventurous task of returning the Christmas treasure to The Magical Land of Doors. With brave hearts and warm socks they set out to conquer the mission.

The Trusty Steed was heavy-laden with holiday booty as King Crew followed Princess Sugar past the icy mountains.

Would the Key of Wonders permit them access to The Magical Land of Doors, as was foretold by the Keeper of the keys?

Yes!
Princess Sugar and King Crew were not daunted by the throngs of seemingly identical doors. They knew that their Treasure Key would only unlock the Special Door at the top of Shakey-Shakey Ladder.

Suddenly they spotted it!

Valiant King Crew scaled the ladder and safely returned the treasure to its rightful place, where it shall remain until next Christmas season.

With a brilliant smile Princes Sugar left The Magical Land of Doors upon her Trusty Steed.

And they lived happily ever after.

No, I haven't lost my mind. I know I snapped pictures at a UHaul storage facility.

I promise I have a point.

I have become more aware of the power I have as an adult, and especially a parent. My attitude and perspective about a situation can either make it sparkly fun or pure torture. I knew that we had to take a trip to storage with our Christmas things. I knew Ava would have to come along. Josh and I made a conscious choice to make the outing as much fun as possible. She totally bought into it. She 'oohed' and 'ahhed' the entire time. As a two-year-old she doesn't have a lot of control over the things we do. More often than not she's just along for the ride. Why not make a little extra effort and transform the mundane into magical? I feel like I owe it to her, and really...I had a blast too.

Not Mustard or Mayonaise

Must be Ketchup.
You know, catch up...because it's been so long since I've blogged.

Over the Christmas holiday the Texas Cedar trees attacked Ava with a vengeance. The combination of congested child/lack of sleep/wheezing/coughing/snot constantly running/sad sick eyes/trips to Urgent Care/hundreds of $$ in medicine and doctor visits/kicking myself for not anticipating the allergies and bringing the breathing machine caused me to not take many pictures. On Christmas Day Ava was the sickest I've ever seen her. Thankfully, she recovered quickly with the help of some miracle elixirs. Hopefully I can get the few pictures snapped by grandmas and aunts to throw on the blog later. For now, this is the best I can do.

Happy in her adorable tutu and headband from Mamaw and Papa.
Have I ever mentioned that orange is Ava's favorite color? Since she could talk she has loved the color orange. Orange is the theme of her 3rd birthday party. Can you guess which tutu she will be wearing at the party?

For Christmas Eve at my parents house I made Beef Bourguigonne (or Beef Burgundy, or Boeuf Bourguignon). Click above for the recipe.

Close-up of the meal

I made a few handmade Christmas gifts.

This is the kitchen towel I made for Judy's red/cherry themed kitchen.

Beene Beene has an odd-shaped end table that was in need of a cover. Sewing for the Beene is like cooking for Martha Stewart. Once (in a very loving way of course) she ripped every seam in an apron I'd just made to show me the right way to do it. It was actually a very valuable learning experience, but oh so humbling. I decided to be brave and make a custom table cloth for her. She loves yo-yos so I went a little crazy with them. I've been commissioned to make another cover just like this for her coffee table. I guess she liked it!

Coach made puny Ava a very special candy cane-shaped cinnamon roll with red-dyed icing and sprinkles.

Josh and I spent a few days with our sweet friends, The Broadduses, in Sugar Land. Three days of great food and board games. I think we spent 70 of the 72 hours in our pajamas playing Settlers of Catan. We miss you guys like crazy.

We returned to Norman after the infamous Oklahoma Blizzard of 2009. There are still mountains of snow everywhere, but the roads are clear. This little Texas family is thrilled to see the white stuff - especially since it isn't inconveniencing us in any way. Hopefully we'll get to see some of it fall soon.

This week we are enjoying our last full week before HLS goes back to the dungeon on January 19th. We hope you all are snuggled and warm during this cold weather. Thanks for reading.